


bruised and scarred

by orphan_account



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Blood, Drowning, Hitting, M/M, The Outsiders, knife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22617055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Phil wasn't expecting Darry to hit him. He wasn't expecting the Socs to show up either.
Relationships: Dan Howell & Phil Lester, Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	bruised and scarred

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Phandom Reverse Bang! If it wasn't obvious I was writing an au for the movie The Outsiders!

Everything had happened so fast that Phil couldn't begin to process that his brother had actually hit him. His oldest brother Darry was yelling at him, and suddenly there was a stinging sensation on his face. As he bolted out of the house, he could hear both of his brothers shouting a mixture of apologies and begging for him to come back as he ran away. The streets were wet with rain, and he hoped he didn’t fall as his feet slipped from underneath him and his vision became more and more blurred with each step that he took.

The street lamps overhead were either dim or ready to blow, so he could barely see where he was going, although there wasn't much to see, he supposed. The houses were all worn down and falling apart. On this side of town, nothing looked good. No one had much money so nothing was really taken care of. But it wasn't really anybody's fault - it’s just how life was with the financial situation that the Greasers were in.

He ran down the street and around the block before stopping for a moment to catch his breath. His chest was heaving and his sides had pain shooting up and down them. Tears were running down his face and he couldn't get them to stop. The pain on his cheek from where Darry had slapped him was getting more and more intense with each passing second, and the cold air and tears didn’t help.

As to what really happened, Phil’s memory was a blur. He and Johnny had been out to the movies with Cherry and Marcia, and had stayed out a lot later than they intended to without thinking much of it. Typically when they or any other Greasers were out later at night, they stuck together in case the Socs came around. Phil was used to fighting with them. Everybody knew that the two groups didn't get along - there wasn't a time or a place where the two could stay civil. Definitely not in public settings like school or the drive-in, but especially not in private. There was no way they could be civil in private where no one was around.

Phil had only gone home that night because Johnny had dragged him away. When Bob and Randy, Cherry and Marcia's boyfriends, had shown up, Phil was suddenly reminded by how much he hated Socs. Sure, the girls were Socs too, but there was so much to adore about Cherry, and Phil was glad she wasn't like the others. When Bob tried to start a fight with him and Johnny, Cherry had stopped it despite the fact that Randy was egging it on. Phil got lucky that time though - it was nearly impossible for a fight not to break out between the Socs and the Greasers.

There were times where it nearly turned into a bloodbath between Phil and the Socs. He was never alone though - he always had Johnny or someone else with him. He was the youngest in his little group, and none of them liked Phil being on his own. They became even more protective the day after Phil had a knife pulled on him, which was why it was such a surprise when Johnny had split off from him earlier on.

Darry had told Phil he was being stupid and reckless for being out so late on his own. But Phil wasn't alone. He was with Cherry and Marcia and Johnny, and they had seen a movie together, and shared a coke, and ate popcorn. He tried to tell Darry that, but he didn't listen. He didn't listen, and Phil was more frustrated by that than his telling-off. Darry had mentioned how he couldn't even call the cops if he and Sodapop thought something had happened. They were all on thin ice, and if there was one more slip up or reason to suspect anything, Phil would be thrown out of his house and dumped in a boy’s home faster than he could imagine.

As he rubbed his eyes, Phil hissed as his hand made contact with his cheek.

"Da - Damn it," he muttered. He looked down towards where Johnny lived and watched. Phil hoped oddly enough that Johnny would just appear. But he didn’t. He really should go and get him so that he's not alone. He was carrying the knife that Johnny gave to him, so it wasn't like he was unprotected.

Phil made his way to the park and sighed. He walked up to the fountain and looked at his reflection in the foggy water. Although he couldn't see it that well, the mark on his face was still noticeably there. As he stood back up and looked around, he realised that the park was empty. He saw the jungle gym in the corner, diagonally back from the fountain. If someone came they more than likely wouldn't see him there until the sun rose. At least he hoped so.

Phil headed over and climbed up on the jungle gym and laid on his back. He stared up at the sky and watched the stars twinkle. He wondered if Cherry was still awake, looking up at the same sky he was. There were some clouds leftover from the rain, but it was still calming to look at.

There was a peaceful silence as Phil regained himself. He wasn't going back home that night - this had already been decided. Resting there was helping him process things a bit, but that didn't last long. Before he could register, a Mustang was pulling up across from the jungle gym. He sat up quickly, placed his hand in his pocket, and clutched his knife tightly.

Phil watched a group of fix or six drunk Socs climb out of the car. In their hands were flasks that they were drinking from, leaving a lingering stench of alcohol. Of course, they were all drunk - they could afford to be. If they did something stupid they had the money to get out of it as well. If Phil were caught like this he'd be in a world of trouble, not to mention thrown into a boy's home. He watched them all walk closer before noticing Bob and Randy in the crowd.

"Well, well, well," Bob said laughing as he came closer, "what do we have here?"

Phil just sat and watched come closer, climbing off the platform and standing his ground. "Isn't this the uh, the Greaser that tried to steal our girls?" Bob chuckled and Randy stood beside him

Phil showed no fear on his face. He kept himself neutral and remained standing tall. He knew how Socs worked, and when Greasers showed them that they were afraid, if they were afraid, it got worse and worse. Especially the more that Phil or any Greaser fought back.

"You're out of your territory," Phil spat, making eye contact with Bob and gripping the knife is his pocket even tighter. He didn't want to have to use it, but if it came down to it he would, although Phil was greatly outnumbered, so if he pulled out his knife there wouldn't be much of a fight. They could easily hold him down and do what they wanted, and he knew that.

"You had no business being with our girls," Bob chuckled, shaking his head as he took a step closer. "You Greasers t - think you can do wh -whatever you want and fit in - into social groups you don't belong in."

Phil watched Bob step closer and take another drink from the flask in his hand before giving it to Randy. Bob pulled a switchblade from his pocket and taunted him. He flashed the blade in the light for a moment before shoving it back into his pocket. "You wanna know what Greasers are? White trash and long greasy hair."

Phil didn't want to let them win. He wanted to stand his ground and show them that Greasers weren't trash like everyone thought. If anyone was trash here, it would be the Socs.

"Do you know what Socs are?"

"What?"

"White trash with Mustangs and madras," Phil growled, and spat in Bob's general direction.

Bob yelled something about Phil being dead and Phil quickly turned and ran. The Socs always went through with what they threatened. Phil would be no different. He started running and thought that he was ahead of them until one of them grabbed the back of his shirt, causing him to choke and fall straight to the ground. Phil started to cough as two Socs picked him up by his shoulders and dragged him kicking and screaming across the park to the fountain where Bob was standing and waiting for him.

Then they threw him into the fountain. Bob shoved his head under the water and he kept trying to fight back, but instead, he was coughing and couldn't breathe. It only took a few moments before Phil started to lose consciousness. Amid the Socs’ yelling and cheering, there was one voice that he hadn't heard before. As it spoke, the hands that were on him were suddenly gone.

"What the fuck did I tell you about bothering kids, Shelton?" The voice all but screamed, muffled under the sound of water. In a haze of confusion, Phil was dragged out by the two Socs and thrown onto the ground. He hit his head on the corner of the fountain and again on the concrete once he hit the ground, causing a deep pain to come from the back of his head. He groaned as he heard what sounded like punches and footsteps running off and car doors slamming as the Mustang pulled away.

Phil could hear footsteps coming towards him as he struggled to open his eyes. He wanted to sit up but the pain in his head was too much to handle, getting worse and worse as it built up into some sort of head-throbbing pressure. At least that’s what he assumed.

"Hey, kid," the person said. His voice was deep and confident. There weren't any hints of fear, but it was slightly worrisome. Almost as if he worried about Phil. "Can you open your eyes?"

Phil groaned, and as he looked up he was met with someone hovering over him. The person told him to be careful as he helped him sit up against the fountain wall. The pain was still strong and Phil felt something trickle down his neck - it didn't dawn on him that his head was in the way of the fountain, so immediately he thought his head was bleeding. As he went to touch the back of his head, the guy stopped him.

"Don't do that, here." He carefully turned Phil's head and moved his hair so he could see it better in the light. Phil made a pained noise and Dan sighed. "It looks like there's no bleeding. That's good."

Phil didn't move for a moment. "And you are?"

The stranger chuckled and shook his head. "Name's Dan. Now hold still."

Dan tore off part of his shirt and dipped it into the fountain before holding it to Phil's eyebrow. He hissed. Whatever he just did stung pretty badly.

"Must have hit that area on your way down. Hold that there."

As Phil held the cloth to his head, he managed to finally get a good look at Dan. His appearance was a stark contrast to Phil’s. His clothes were... ell, they were nice. Expensive, and definitely not his style. He'd never seen Dan before, so he had to have been one of the Socs. This caused Phil to worry. He was already hurt - how could he defend himself like this? But that didn't make much sense, Phil heard him say something to Bob.

He knew Bob's last name as well. Although everyone knew it, Dan said it with confidence compared to everyone else. This Dan seemed softer as well? Maybe that wasn’t the right word if there was a right word. But Phil was skeptical. He kept the torn piece of fabric up to his eyebrow and watched Dan. Dan was cleaning his hands in the fountain.

Phil looked and saw that the water had turned a pink hue from the blood. He was sure he hadn’t bled that much, but he also didn’t want to ask what happened. He was scared to, but he had nowhere to go. He couldn’t go back home after Darry hit him. That would just be stupid. Phil didn’t know Dan. He didn’t know his background, and he didn’t have to. He just knew that Dan was different from him, and he didn’t trust that. However, there was something weird about it. Dan had saved him from those Socs. A person that Phil never met before had decided to save him when he had no reason to.

Dan finally looked back over to Phil and chuckled lowly. “Are you ever gonna stop staring at me?” Phil turned his head and looked around. He could see the tire tracks in the dirt in front of him where the mustang must have driven through when it sped out.

“Come on.” Dan stood up and Phil looked at him.

“What?”

“Come on,” Dan repeated, and began to walk away as Phil stayed sat down. Dan suddenly stopped and fiddled in his pocket. Phil started, fear coursing through his veins. He had no idea what was in there. More than likely it was a pocket knife, and probably a better one than what Phil owned. If Dan was a Soc as he suspected, everything that he owned was better than Phil’s. So why was he helping Phil? Socs didn’t help greasers.

“They’ll come back. I know how Bob is.” The Socs didn’t stop if they didn’t get their way.

Hesitantly, Phil got up. He didn’t want to go, but he knew that if he stayed, just as Dan said, there would be a chance that they would come back. Phil knew that if they did, he was dead. There was no denying it. He felt dizzy but brushed it off and started to follow Dan, who kept walking. Phil kept his distance. He wasn’t going to get any closer if he didn’t have to.

He kept the cloth to his eyebrow and could feel that it was wet with blood. At least he assumed it was blood, as Dan didn’t put the cloth in the fountain.

“This way,” Dan called as he started to go down an unfamiliar path. Phil stopped in his tracks. He had never been that way before, and he wasn’t about to start. Dan kept walking until he noticed that Phil wasn’t, when he stopped, turned on his foot, and looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.

This was the last straw. Phil grabbed the knife from his pocket and held it out in front of him. His arm was shaking. Dan just stared. 

“What the hell are you doing?”

Phil trembled like a leaf as the other man stayed still. He had just saved this kid’s life, and now the same kid was holding a knife to him? The dim lights from the streetlamps were shining on Phil’s face. Dan could only see the light reflecting off the knife and part of his face. There was terror in Phil’s eyes, and as Dan stepped forward the boy immediately retreated, keeping the knife in front of him.

“S… stay back!”

“I’m not gonna hurt you, kid. What the hell are you doing?” Dan repeated.

“I know… I.. I - I know how you - how you Socs are.” Phil muttered as Dan watched on.

His arms had started to hurt. He wanted to drop them both, letting the cloth and the knife fall to the floor. Why didn’t he ask Johnny to come? Things would have been alright if he had just gone to Johnny, but no, he was an idiot who wanted to do this all on his own.

Dan reached into his pocket. Phil’s heart dropped. It was over. It was all over for him and he had no way out this time. He was already hurt. What was next? Death. Death was the only thing that Phil could think of. He stood no chance against a Soc on his own. He had seen Socs beat others and leave them for dead, and he was next.

Instead, Dan began emptying his pockets, placing his own pocket knives on the ground and kicking them towards Phil gently. “Here. You can hold onto them. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Phil stared at Dan before he looked down at the knives. They were nicer than his own. Probably cost more money than Phil will ever see in his own lifetime.

“Wh- wh... Y- You _aren’t_ go- going to hu- hurt me?” He stuttered. He regretted those words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Dan raised his brow again and sighed.

“If I wanted to hurt you I would have let them drown you.” Dan walked a couple of steps closer and Phil felt frozen in place. “Look kid, I’m just trying to help. You’re bleeding - you nearly got killed - and this is how I get thanked.”

“I...didn’t ask you to save me,” he mumbled.

Dan chuckled and shook his head before he turned on his heel. “Come on, I live this way.” He started to walk, and this time he didn’t stop. “If you lose your way, I don’t know what to tell you. If you lose your way, I’m not coming back for you.”

Phil hesitantly put his knife away, then pocketed the two lying at his feet and followed Dan down the road. His feet felt heavy as he walked. He still didn’t entirely trust this Dan, but he did save him from the Socs one time, maybe he would again.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! you can find me on tumblr [@flymetomanchester](https://flymetomanchester.tumblr.com)


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